Reds first baseman Sal Stewart has been named NL Rookie of the Year, taking home 20 of 30 first place votes en route to a comfortable win. Stewart takes home the award on the back of a .263/.330/.457 season (112 wRC+) with 32 HR and 112 RBI, with 15 steals tacked on to boot. Carson Benge finished second, while Nolan McLean finished 4th.
Benge was named a finalist for the award alongside JJ Wetherholdt and Stewart last week. Thomas Henderson profiled each of those finalists earlier today, concluding
that Stewart was the likeliest to win on the back of his 30 homer season. Indeed, Stewart has already been named Sporting News Rookie of the Year, a version of award voted on by players rather than writers. Earlier today ahead of the official announcement, betting odds (per Kalshi) had Stewart as a shoe-in for the official version of the award.
While it’s easy to understand why Stewart has supporters (Dingerz, baby), his analytical case is quite poor. Wetherholdt and Benge were both far superior players by all WAR metrics, and even other rookies like TJ Rumfield and Joe Mack were more valuable overall contributors. A.J. Ewing, who tallied only 492 AB to Stewarts’s 700, was nearly as valuable in his own right. At least three rookies on the mound – Logan Henderson, Andrew Alvarez, and Nolan McLean – were also more valuable players.
In prior years, this would’ve been a mild annoyance to debate in chat threads or on Twitter, but with the implementation of the Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) system there are actual stakes here. For the Mets, this is a frustrating and somewhat damaging outcome. Despite having two of the three best rookies in Benge and McLean, the org will not receive anything in the way of draft pick awards, a boon that would’ve greatly helped their eternally challenged draft pool.
